February 2, 2016

While the average Canadian spends only 10 per cent of their income on food, low income households may spend as much as 75 per cent. So, naturally, when food prices go up, those least able to deal with the financial shock are often the hardest hit.

In response, some well-meaning activists urge us to carry on the “giving spirit of the holidays” into the new year by donating to food banks and other social service agencies …”

However, this sort of philanthropy is dangerous. As Alberta Views magazine argued so well, private support to such charities allows the government to avoid fulfilling its responsibilities of providing basic services. This forces already vulnerable groups to rely on the funding “whims” of individual wealthy citizens — which seems completely unnatural but has come to be accepted and even encouraged by initiatives such as food bank drives.

Just as we would not accept that someone’s ability to visit the doctor when ill or the right of a child to attend school should be left to other people’s generosity, the better-off should not be determining if and what the poorest eat.